Anti-Semitism on rise in Canada

March 23, 2007 9:00am

Anti-Semitic activities in Canada have risen to their highest level in 25 years, according to a new report. B’nai Brith Canada’s 2006 Audit of Anti-Semitic Incidents indicates that 935 incidents were reported to the organization’s League of Human Rights last year. Almost two-thirds were categorized as harassment and one-third as vandalism, while about 3 percent involved outright violence. The overall number is about 13 percent higher than in 2005, double the tally of five years ago and four times higher than 10 years ago. “The acts of harassment and violence are increasing. It’s going beyond ordinary vandalism,” said Frank Dimant, B’nai Brith Canada’s executive vice president. “That means that more individuals are feeling personally threatened, and that’s a frightening experience.” Nearly half of the reported events occurred in Toronto, which is home to nearly half of Canada’s 375,000 Jews. Another 25 percent occurred in Montreal, but there were incidents in almost every Canadian region.